Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education is the ratio of the number of female students enrolled at primary, secondary and tertiary levels in public and private schools to the number of male students.
Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015.
The indicator of equality of educational opportunity, measured in terms of school enrolment, is a measure of both fairness and efficiency. Education is one of the most important aspects of human development. Eliminating gender disparity at all levels of education would help to increase the status and capabilities of women. Female education is also an important determinant of economic development.
The indicator is a ratio of the number of enrolled girls to enrolled boys, regardless of ages.
Data on school enrolment are usually recorded by the ministry of education or derived from surveys and censuses. If administrative data are not available, household survey data may be used, although household surveys usually measure self-reported attendance rather than enrolment as reported by schools. Among international surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys (and sometimes also Living Standards Measurement Studies and Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Surveys in Africa) provide school attendance data.
For international comparison and estimation of regional and global aggregates, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics data series on school enrolment can be used. The series is based on data reported by education ministries or national agencies for enrolment.
UNESCO produces ratios of girls to boys at country, regional and global levels for use in monitoring the Millennium Development Goals. They are available at the Millennium Indicators Web site (millenniumindicators.org).
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics www.uis.unesco.org.
World Education Indicators (CD-ROM), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, “Technical Guidelines”, 1998, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (www.unescobkk.org/infores/efa2000/tech2.htm).
World Development Indicators, annual, World Bank (www.worldbank.org/data).
Monitoring Progress towards the Goals of the World Summit for Children: End-Decade Multiple Indicator Survey Manual, United Nations Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org/reseval/methodr.html).
The State of the World’s Children, annual, United Nations Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org/publications).
Human Development Report, annual, United Nations Development Programme (www.undp.org).
Where official enrolment data are available, estimates from UNESCO are normally available annually about one years after the reference year. Data from household surveys may be available for selected countries at various intervals.
Official data on higher education are not as frequently reported as data on primary and secondary enrolment.
In situations of limited resources, families make difficult choices about sending their children to school. They may perceive the value of education differently for boys and girls. Girls are more likely than boys to suffer from limited access to education, especially in rural areas. But where basic education is widely accepted and overall enrolment is high, girls tend to equal or outnumber boys at primary and secondary levels. The pattern is similar in higher education, but with larger differences between the two genders.
International data comparisons
UNESCO data collection is based on the International Standard Classification of Education, which allows for international comparability between countries and over time. See also entries under “References”.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics www.uis.unesco.org.
Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, “Technical Guidelines”, 1998, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (www.unescobkk.org/infores/efa2000/tech2.htm).
The State of the World’s Children, annual, United Nations Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org/publications).
World Development Indicators, annual, World Bank (www.worldbank.org/data).
Human Development Report, annual, United Nations Development Programme (www.undp.org).
Some 50 countries have no systems of higher education. Private education tends to be under-reported, but international coverage has improved over the last four cycles of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics survey. Household survey data may include higher and private education, but may not be comparable between surveys.
The indicator is an imperfect measure of the accessibility of schooling for girls because it does not allow a determination of whether improvements in the ratio reflect increases in girls’ school attendance (desirable) or decreases in boys’ attendance (undesirable). It also does not show whether those enrolled in school complete the relevant education cycles.
Another limitation of the indicator is that the ratio reflects the gender structure of the school-age population. When the gender ratio in the school age population deviates significantly from 1, the indicator will not adequately reflect the actual differences between girls’ and boys’ enrolment. This happens in countries where boys outnumber girls at younger ages.
A ratio based on net enrolment (indicator 6) or gross enrolment is a better measure for this indicator as it takes into account the population structure of the country.
Ministries of education.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics.